Laggies (2014) Review

Laggies (2014)
Director: Lynn Shelton
Screenwriter: Andrea Seigel
Starring: Keira Knightley, Chloë Grace Moretz, Sam Rockwell

I’ve recently watched this new romantic comedy with Keira Knightley as the lead of a cast that was remarkable, and although I didn’t quite like Knightley’s performance – don’t get me wrong she’s an amazing actress but she didn’t put all her talent into her role this time; maybe she didn’t feel the character but it surely wasn’t her best performance – Chloë Grace Moretz’s performance as a problematic teenager was very believable. Despite this positive, Laggies has a poor and inconsistent plot.

Basically, it is about Megan, a young and struggling twenty-something who is in the middle of an identity crisis. Her friends are moving on with their lives and she is stuck in a dead-end job at her father’s firm. After graduating and starting work as a counsellor, she drops out of her job when she realises that she isn’t able to help others as she’s still dealing with her own issues.

Everything gets worse when her long term boyfriend suddenly proposes and Megan has doubts about her relationship with him. She wants to escape from it all and lie low for a while. At this point, she meets by chance Annika (Moretz), a fragile girl whose parents are divorcing and whose mother is non-existent. The two become friends and Annika lets Megan stay at her house which she shares with her father Craig; suffice to say that soon things get really messed up .

All in all, I liked the film. It’s an enjoyable comedy and it is easy to relate to the characters, especially if you are going through a similar experience in your twenties – a quarter-life crisis as you may call it – but I didn’t like the ending since it didn’t seem like Megan’s problems were solved or even discussed; everything is left for the audience to figure out. I guess I would have preferred a definitive ending for this film and an insight into Megan’s self. Will she find herself in the end? Will she overcome her inner struggles? I feel the issue has been left unresolved and this is one of the key factors in my overall rating of the movie. But, if you fancy a comedy night and don’t have other plans for the evening, this film is just the right choice for you.

10/24

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